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The United States invaded Iraq and killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis on a thin pretext. It toppled the government of Libya, leading to years of turmoil and

The United States invaded Iraq and killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis on a thin pretext. It toppled the government of Libya, leading to years of turmoil and the return of literal slavery. It supported Sunni extremists in Syria that helped tear that country apart. It ran a global kidnapping and torture operation for years. It conducts drone assassinations around the world. When I hear Americans talking about the US standing for human rights around the world, I wonder where they've been living these past few decades.

rayiner 7y ago
The intervention in Libya was due to a security council resolution proposed by the UK and France. It was run as a joint NATO effort.
- jsjohnst 7y ago
  > It was run as a joint NATO effort. All that says is that other “democratic” “human rights advocating” countries are also to blame.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
- DiogenesKynikos 7y ago
  I'm not saying that France out the UK have clean hands either, but there was critical US involvement. NATO went far beyond the UN mandate to protect civilians, however, becoming the de facto rebel air force. NATO tried several times to assassinate Gaddafi, killing his family members instead. For example, one airstrike in Tripoli killed a son and three grandchildren of his.[1] Of course, they did eventually bomb his caravan, leaving him to be brutally murdered on the side of the road. None of this was authorized by the UN. Western special forces were also not authorized to operate in Libya, but they did anyways. Anyways, years after this wonderful exercise in protecting civilians, the country is still in a state of civil war, torn between different warlords. People forget that as bad as Gaddafi was, Libya used to have the highest living standard in Africa. Now, it's a nightmare. 1. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-libya/libyas-gaddafi-survives-air-strikes-son-killed-idUSTRE7270JP20110430 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-libya/libyas-gaddafi-surv...
riversflow 7y ago
Look, I'm didn't say that the US is a beacon of morality, what I'm saying is that China is significantly less moral than the US, and I gave a direct apples to apples example. Pointing out that the US participated in the Iraq war is not really on topic at all, because the US is the sole flag-bearer of free trade on the high seas in our global economic system--no one else has the navy to do it and nobody else has to maintain that machine. The US hasn't kidnapped and tortured any consulate employees recently, which China just did. https://www.hongkongfp.com/2019/11/21/uk-govt-summons-china-ambassador-torture-former-consulate-staffer/ https://www.hongkongfp.com/2019/11/21/uk-govt-summons-china-...
- DiogenesKynikos 7y ago
  Saying the US "participated in the Iraq war" is putting it rather euphemistically. The US government lied and engineered the Iraq War, which was an illegal war of aggression. It led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. ISIS probably would never have come into existence without the Iraq war. > The US hasn't kidnapped and tortured any consulate employees recently, which China just did. Perhaps not (though it does have a recent history of kidnapping and torturing people on a global scale), but the US is busy blasting away pine nut farmers in Afghanistan.[1] 1. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-attack-drones/u-s-drone-strike-kills-30-pine-nut-farm-workers-in-afghanistan-idUSKBN1W40NW https://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-attack-drones...

rayiner 7y ago

The intervention in Libya was due to a security council resolution proposed by the UK and France. It was run as a joint NATO effort.

jsjohnst 7y ago
> It was run as a joint NATO effort. All that says is that other “democratic” “human rights advocating” countries are also to blame.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
DiogenesKynikos 7y ago
I'm not saying that France out the UK have clean hands either, but there was critical US involvement. NATO went far beyond the UN mandate to protect civilians, however, becoming the de facto rebel air force. NATO tried several times to assassinate Gaddafi, killing his family members instead. For example, one airstrike in Tripoli killed a son and three grandchildren of his.[1] Of course, they did eventually bomb his caravan, leaving him to be brutally murdered on the side of the road. None of this was authorized by the UN. Western special forces were also not authorized to operate in Libya, but they did anyways. Anyways, years after this wonderful exercise in protecting civilians, the country is still in a state of civil war, torn between different warlords. People forget that as bad as Gaddafi was, Libya used to have the highest living standard in Africa. Now, it's a nightmare. 1. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-libya/libyas-gaddafi-survives-air-strikes-son-killed-idUSTRE7270JP20110430 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-libya/libyas-gaddafi-surv...

riversflow 7y ago

Look, I'm didn't say that the US is a beacon of morality, what I'm saying is that China is significantly less moral than the US, and I gave a direct apples to apples example. Pointing out that the US participated in the Iraq war is not really on topic at all, because the US is the sole flag-bearer of free trade on the high seas in our global economic system--no one else has the navy to do it and nobody else has to maintain that machine. The US hasn't kidnapped and tortured any consulate employees recently, which China just did. https://www.hongkongfp.com/2019/11/21/uk-govt-summons-china-ambassador-torture-former-consulate-staffer/ https://www.hongkongfp.com/2019/11/21/uk-govt-summons-china-...

DiogenesKynikos 7y ago
Saying the US "participated in the Iraq war" is putting it rather euphemistically. The US government lied and engineered the Iraq War, which was an illegal war of aggression. It led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. ISIS probably would never have come into existence without the Iraq war. > The US hasn't kidnapped and tortured any consulate employees recently, which China just did. Perhaps not (though it does have a recent history of kidnapping and torturing people on a global scale), but the US is busy blasting away pine nut farmers in Afghanistan.[1] 1. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-attack-drones/u-s-drone-strike-kills-30-pine-nut-farm-workers-in-afghanistan-idUSKBN1W40NW https://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-attack-drones...